ABSTRACT
An important slogan that weaves its way through Islamic thought over the generations is the call to jihad. This slogan has powerful psychological and emotional impact on many Muslims throughout the Arab and Muslim world, whenever Muslims are in political confrontation with a non-Islamic state. The word jihad is derived from the verb jahada meaning ‘to make an effort’ or ‘to strive’ (to spread Islam). In the west, the term acquired the meaning of a holy war, suggesting a war that an Islamic state wages on a non-Islamic state in order to spread Islam or to defend itself against foreigners or foreign influence. This word appears many times in various Quranic verses and the Hadith. During the dawn of Islam in Mecca (610–622), jihad meant to work at spreading the new religion and resisting the infidels of Mecca who rejected it and persecuted the followers of Muhammad until, under his leadership, they emigrated to the city of Yathrib (Medina). After Muhammad's victory at Badr and his conquest of and return to Mecca, the term jihad took on the meaning of a holy war against infidels in general, not just the infidels of Mecca. 1
